ENGINE-ROOM TRIUMPHS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1375, 18 March 1915, Page 4

ENGINE-ROOM TRIUMPHS.

A remarkable feature of the naval engagements fought during ►he past seven months has been :Le splendid steaming made by •he British ships. The official ei.palches to the Admiralty have inphasised the magnificent work ~r the engineers and their stalls, to whom much ol the tactical successes were directly due. In her engagement with the Emden, ike 3yduey attained a speed considerably in excess of that registered on her tiial trips. The New Zealand has on severed occasions —notably in tne North Sea action on January 24th —proved herself a splendid steamer, and as one ol her officers recently remarked in a letter to a friend in Christchurch, her faster consorts —Lion, Princess Royal, and Queen Mary—have never yet succeeded in “dropping” her very far astern. It is pleasing to notice that her chief engineering officer, Engineer-Commander T. H. Turner, was specially meutioued in despatches for his good work by Vice-Admiral Beatty. But the most remarkable case is that of the old cruL-er Kent, which took part in the Falkland Islands action, and assisted in avenging her ill fated sister ship, Monmouth, by pursuing and sinking the Nurnberg. The County class of ten ships of 9,800 tons each were designed for a speed of 23 knots at 22,000 horse power. They all tailed on their official trials to attain their contract speed, although the designed horsepower was exceeded. On her trials in January, 1903, the Kent worked up to 21.89 knots at full power. Yet by the combined strenuous efforts of her engineers and stokers on December Bth, 1914, the Kent was pressed hard in the pursuit of the knot Nurnberg so that she actually worked up to 25 knots at 25,000 horse power—very near the limit of safety, one would imagine. The twelve year old Kent was in reserve for nearly twelve months before the war started, and was not commissioned lor war service until September last. She bad then just undergone extensive repairs and refit, costing nearly ,£IOO.OOO in Portsmouth dockyard. Tne wisdom of spending an amount equal to one-seventh of her original cost may have been questioned in some quarters, but as events proved, it was money well spent. In the day or battle the Kent surprised even her own company by steamiug knots better than she had done on her trials twelve years previously.